Kef Toghobeit is a
karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
cave near the settlement of
Bab Taza in
Chefchaouen Province
Chefchaouen () is a province in the Morocco, Moroccan economic region of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima.
Demographics
According to the 2014 Moroccan census, national census in Morocco, the province has more than 457,432 inhabitants. The population is ...
,
Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima
Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima () is the northernmost of the twelve regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 15,090 km2 and recorded a population of 4 030 222 in the 2024 Moroccan census. The capital of the region is Tangier.
Geography
Tange ...
, in northern
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. Currently known to be long and deep, it is the
deepest cave in Morocco, and the third deepest
cave in Africa.
Although Kef Toghobeit has been well-explored, its full extent is not yet known.
Only 1000 caves are known in Morocco, many of them barely mapped, although the geology would suggest that many more do exist.
Topography and formation
Kef Toghobeit is just one of over a thousand caves in a 30,000 square kilometre area of
Karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
formation in Morocco.
The cave formed in the Rif mountain range, which is primarily formed of relatively soft minerals such as
dolomite and
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
.
Winter snowfall and rainfall add up to an
annual precipitation rate of 600 to 1000 mm. The heavy precipitation quickly erodes the soft minerals, creating deep caves where the water wore away at the stone. The interior of Kef Toghobeit is covered in loose boulders and rubble.
References
{{Morocco topics
Caves of Morocco
Chefchaouen Province